P1:JZP 0521858704pre CB1001/Roberts 0521858704 September18,2005 13:39 This page intentionally left blank vi P1:JZP 0521858704pre CB1001/Roberts 0521858704 September18,2005 13:39 BLACKED OUT In1966,theU.S.CongresspassedthelandmarkFreedomofInforma- tionAct(FOIA),givingthepublictherighttogovernmentdocuments. This “right to know” has been used over four decades to challenge overreaching Presidents and secretive government agencies. FOIA has also become a model for other nations, spawning similar laws insixtyothercountries.Nonetheless,thestruggleforopennessisfar fromover.Thisbookdescribesthetacticsthatpoliticiansandbureau- crats around the world have used to preserve government secrecy. It explains how profound changes in the structure of government – privatization of public services, the rise of powerful international organizations, the growth of tightly knit networks of security agencies – are complicating campaigns for openness. The complex effectsofnewinformationtechnologies–sometimesenhancingopen- ness, sometimes creating new barriers to transparency – are also described. Blacked Out provides an invaluable overview of the chal- lengesconfrontingthenewglobalmovementforopengovernment. Alasdair Robertsisanassociateprofessorofpublicadministration intheMaxwellSchoolofCitizenshipandPublicAffairsatSyracuse University.HeisalsoDirectoroftheCampbellPublicAffairsInstitute at Syracuse University, and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow of theConstitutionUnit,UniversityCollegeLondon.Hereceivedalaw degreefromtheUniversityofTorontoandaPhDinPublicPolicyfrom HarvardUniversity.Hisresearchfocusesontwoareas:publicsector restructuring and transparency in government. His web address is http://www.aroberts.us. i P1:JZP 0521858704pre CB1001/Roberts 0521858704 September18,2005 13:39 ii P1:JZP 0521858704pre CB1001/Roberts 0521858704 September18,2005 13:39 BLACKED OUT GOVERNMENT SECRECY IN THE INFORMATION AGE Alasdair Roberts The Maxwell School of Syracuse University iii camʙʀɪdɢe uɴɪveʀsɪtʏ pʀess Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cʙ2 2ʀu, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521858700 © Alasdair Roberts 2006 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published in print format 2005 ɪsʙɴ-13 978-0-511-13558-3 eBook (EBL) ɪsʙɴ-10 0-511-13558-0 eBook (EBL) ɪsʙɴ-13 978-0-521-85870-0 hardback ɪsʙɴ-10 0-521-85870-4 hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of uʀʟs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. P1:JZP 0521858704pre CB1001/Roberts 0521858704 September18,2005 13:39 Theeyeofthepublicmakesthestatesmanvirtuous.Themultitudeofthe audiencemultipliesfordisintegritythechancesofdetection. Jeremy Bentham, 1785 Ourcountryhasforgottenhowtokeepasecret. Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of Defense, 2004 v P1:JZP 0521858704pre CB1001/Roberts 0521858704 September18,2005 13:39 vi P1:JZP 0521858704pre CB1001/Roberts 0521858704 September18,2005 13:39 CONTENTS Acknowledgements pageix 1 TheGlassCase 1 I CONTEXT 2 SecrecyandSecurity 27 3 RegimeChange 51 4 MessageDiscipline 82 5 SoftStates 107 II STRUCTURE 6 OpaqueNetworks 127 7 TheCorporateVeil 150 8 RemoteControl 171 III TECHNOLOGY 9 LiquidPaper 199 IV CONCLUSION 10 TheEndoftheStory? 231 Notes 239 Index 303 vii P1:JZP 0521858704pre CB1001/Roberts 0521858704 September18,2005 13:39 viii